Amazon saw the number of skills made for Alexa lodge huge growth in the US UK and Germany in 2018 According to a report in voicebotai the number of Alexa skills more than doubled in the US increased 233 percent in the UK and grew 152 percent in Germany during last year The rate at which skills were made for Alexa picked up in the second half of last year in all three countries with a big increase coming in November and December The report noted that in Australia and Canada the skill count stands at more than 20 000 Thats about a year after Alexa was rolled out in the two countries In the US Alexa ended the year with 56 750 skills after starting 2018 with 25 784 skills reported voicebotai marking a 120 percent year-over-year growth In the 2017-to-2018 time frame the number of Alexa skills increased by 266 percent The more than doubling showcases the interest on the part of developers to make apps for Alexa Broken down further during 2018 in the US 85 new Alexa skills were added each day while that was 57 in the UK and 13 in Germany In November and December that jumped to 181 84 and 37 per day respectively noted the report In Japan and France growth was 45 percent for Japan and 53 percent for France in the same time period The report noted that the growth in Alexa skills underscores the commitment to the platform on the part of developers and the popularity among consumers After all developers wouldnt create skills for a platform that there is no demand for The report noted that during the PC and mobile phone eras commitment on the part of developers was important to expand the platform For Amazon Alexa has been hugely popular which was evident this holiday season When providing an update on the holiday shopping season Amazon said voice orders via Alexa increased three times compared to the 2017 holiday shopping season LATEST INSIGHTS Our data and analytics team has developed a number of creative methodologies and frameworks that measure and benchmark the innovation thats reshaping the payments and commerce ecosystem Check out the latest PYMNTS report on how QSRs are doing when it comes to innovation